No-Sp@m Internet!

I have a business email address from a local ISP that is used for online correspondence with other business traders and that email address is only printed on my business cards. It is safe from those atrocious spams, I thought.

However, in not more than half a year, unsolicited emails begin to trickle into my computer inbox whenever I log in to check daily emails. It is frustrating and a definite concern because those spams may contain links that will install spywares like key loggers, trojans, viruses unknowingly when you click on them. In its true nature, these spams are just pure blatant product solicitations but with the gaining popularity of electronic transactions, you can no longer simply turn a blind eye to these electronic trashes thinking online mishaps will not happen to you. Personally, one of my online accounts was hacked into just because of one moment of carelessness and that is for clicking on one of the graphic images.

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You’ve SEO’ed your web site and there is great amount of content too, but how come there is not much traffic? In this case, you may need to look into your linking strategy so that search engines can classify your site as ‘more important’ than others. For example, Google uses it’s proprietary PageRank algorithms to rank the importance of the site from a rating of 0 to 10 with 10 being the most important.

Effective linking strategies need time to develop, however, but the time spent is worthwhile. It is the most critical part of the SEO process in my opinion as it may safeguard your site in the even Google changes it’s algorithms in the future. The number of incoming links to your site means a positive vote for your site.

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Today I am reading a new technique used by a successful market Titus Hoskins called “tag and ping” method and I will be using this method together with a popular blog directory service Technorati.

My blog is all about a few topics that I like. There are autosurfs, make money online, malware, profit sharing models for advertizing and SEO. The recommended programs at the right column lists some of the programs that are making me good money at this moment. These programs contribute a big chunk of my online income too and I will be very glad to introduce them to anyone who are keen. Take a look at all of them and I give 5 stars to the both CEP programs. They are a must have!

Wordtracker (http://www.wordtracker.com/) is the biggest and possibly most respected keyword research tool. They have an extensive keyword database (over 300 million searches over the last 90 days) into which you enter search terms to see how often people search for those terms and how many competing sites are using the keywords. Wordtracker also provides tools that can help you add to your list of potential keywords.

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Spyware does not directly spread in the manner of a computer virus or worm: generally, an infected system does not attempt to transmit the infection to other computers. Instead, spyware gets on a system through deception of the user or through exploitation of software vulnerabilities.
The most direct route by which spyware can get on a computer involves the user installing it. However, users are unlikely to install software if they know that it may disrupt their working environment and compromise their privacy. So many spyware programs deceive the user, either by piggybacking on a piece of desirable software, or by tricking the user to do something that installs the software without realizing it.
Classically, a Trojan horse, by definition, smuggles in something dangerous in the guise of something desirable. Some spyware programs get spread in just this manner. The distributor of spyware presents the program as a useful utility — for instance as a “Web accelerator” or as a helpful software agent. Users download and install the software without immediately suspecting that it could cause harm. For example, Bonzi Buddy, a spyware program targeted at children.
The BearShare file-trading program, “supported” by WhenU spyware. In order to install BearShare, users must agree to install “the SAVE! bundle” from WhenU. The installer provides only a tiny window in which to read the lengthy license agreement. Although the installer claims otherwise, the software transmits users’ browsing activity to WhenU servers.
Spyware can also come bundled with shareware or other downloadable software, as well as music CDs. The user downloads a program; for instance, a music program or a file-trading utility; and installs it; the installer additionally installs the spyware. Although the desirable software itself may do no harm, the bundled spyware does. In some cases, spyware authors have paid shareware authors to bundle spyware with their software, as with the Gator spyware now marketed by Claria. In other cases, spyware authors have repackaged desirable software with installers that add spyware.
A third way of distributing spyware involves tricking users by manipulating security features designed to prevent unwanted installations. The security features of the design of the Internet Explorer Web browser militate AGAINST allowing Web sites to initiate an unwanted download. Instead, a user action, such as clicking on a link, must normally trigger a download. However, links can prove deceptive: for instance, a pop-up ad may appear like a standard Windows dialog box. The box contains a message such as “Would you like to optimize your Internet access?” with links which look like buttons reading Yes and No. No matter which “button” the user presses, a download starts, placing the spyware on the user’s system. Later versions of Internet Explorer offer fewer avenues for this attack.
Some spyware authors infect a system by attacking security holes in the Web browser or in other software. When the user navigates to a Web page controlled by the spyware author, the page contains code which attacks the browser and forces the download and install of spyware. The spyware author would also have some extensive knowledge of commercially-available anti-virus and firewall software. This has become known as a “drive-by download”, by analogy to drive-by shootings which leave the user as a hapless bystander. Common browser exploits target security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and in the Microsoft Java runtime. Given that Internet Explorer remains the most widely-used browser and that many users neglect to update to more secure versions of their software, Internet Explorer provides an attractive entry point for the less scrupulous advertiser or computer-hacker.
Internet Explorer also serves as a point of attachment for spyware programs which install themselves as Browser Helper Object plugins.
In a few cases, a worm or virus has delivered a payload of spyware. For instance, some attackers used the W32.Spybot.Worm worm to install spyware that popped up pornographic ads on the infected system’s screen. By directing traffic to ads set up to channel funds to the spyware authors, they can profit even by such clearly illegal behavior.

The first recorded use of the term spyware occurred on October 16, 1995 in a Usenet post that poked fun at Microsoft’s business model. Spyware later came to refer to espionage equipment such as tiny cameras. However, in early 2000 the founder of Zone Labs, Gregor Freund, used the term in a press release for the ZoneAlarm Personal Firewall. Since then, computer-users have used the term in its current sense. 1999 also saw the introduction of the first popular freeware program to include built-in spyware: a humorous and popular game called “Elf Bowling” spread across the Internet in November 1999, and many users learned with surprise that the program actually transmitted user information back to the game’s creator, Nsoft.
In early 2000, Steve Gibson of Gibson Research realized that advertising software had been installed on his system, and he suspected that the software was stealing his personal information. After analyzing the software he determined that they were adware components from the companies Aureate (later Radiate) and Conducent. He eventually rescinded his claim that the ad software collected information without the user’s knowledge, but still chastised the ad companies for covertly installing the spyware and making it difficult to remove.
As a result of his analysis in 2000, Gibson released the first anti-spyware program, OptOut, and many more software antidotes have appeared since then. International Charter now offers software developers a Spyware-Free Certification program.
According to an October 2004 study by America Online and the National Cyber-Security Alliance, 80% of surveyed users’ computers had some form of spyware, with an average of 93 spyware components per computer. 89% of surveyed users with spyware reported that they did not know of its presence, and 95% reported that they had not given permission for it to be installed.

Dialer is small program that either changes your existing internet access telephone number or creates a new internet connection on a computer system. After the program is downloaded and installed, the dialer connects to the internet via modem or ISDN-card. The existing internet connection is usually disconnected. The dialer sets itself as the default connection, then uses a very expensive phone number to dial in. Usually, dialers only work with Microsoft Windows operating systems.

A worm can open your email address book and despatch one clone each to each of the addresses listed. Of course, the machine has to be connected to the net. If it is not, the worm silently bides it time till the connection takes place. Chats and Instant messaging software like MIRC, MSN Messenger, Yahoo IM and ICQ can also act as unwitting carriers enabling the worm to spread like wildfire throughout the cyberworld (the “Jitux” worm is an example). Every operating system has vulnerabilities which are thoroughly exploited by worms to propagate themselves. Windows systems are the usual target. A very prominent example of this is the Sasser worm which uses security holes in the Windows LSASS service.Other worms spread only by using Backdoor infected computers. E.g. the “Bormex” worm relies on the “Back Orifice” backdoor to spread. There is a facility available within peer-to-peer networks known as the P2P folder which all users of the network share. A worm can simply copy itself into the shared folder and quietly wait for the other users to pick it up.Some worms take on even more deceptive forms to snare users. Sending emails with malicious code embedded within the main text or as an attachment. Some worms act as SMTP proxies (Sircam, Nimda, Sasser & co) to spread quickly. Worms can attempt remote logins (especially on Microsoft SQL servers - the “Spida” worm does this quite elegantly!) to launch DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks. Another favourite is injecting malicious code in running services on the server like “Slammer”.

A computer worm is a self-replicating computer program, similar to a computer virus. A virus attaches itself to, and becomes part of, another executable program; however, a worm is self-contained and does not need to be part of another program to propagate itself. They are often designed to exploit the file transmission capabilities found on many computers. The main difference between a computer virus and a worm is that a virus can not propagate by itself whereas worms can. A worm uses a network to send copies of itself to other systems and it does so without any intervention. In general, worms harm the network and consume bandwidth, whereas viruses infect or corrupt files on a targeted computer. Viruses generally do not affect network performance, as their malicious activities are mostly confined within the target computer itself.

The primary difference between virus and trojan is that trojans don’t spread on their own. Trojan is a malicious program that is disguised as legitimate software. The term is derived from the Greek classical myth of the siege of Troy. Trojan horse programs work in a similar way: they may look useful or interesting (or at the very least harmless) to an unsuspecting user, but are actually harmful when executed. A Trojan horse can be deliberately attached to otherwise useful software or it can be spread by tricking users into believing that it is a useful program.